...Recent probes inside comets show it is overwhelmingly likely that life...Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe and colleagues at the Universitys Cen...Now the team claims that findings from space probes sent to investigat...The 2005 Deep Impact mission to Comet Tempel 1 discovered a mixture of...

Recent probes inside comets show it is overwhelmingly likely that life began in space, according
to
a new paper by Cardiff University scientists.

Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe and colleagues at the Universitys Centre for Astrobiology have
long argued the case for panspermia - the theory that life began inside comets and then spread to
habitable planets across the galaxy. A recent BBC Horizon documentary traced the development of
the
theory.

Now the team claims that findings from space probes sent to investigate passing comets reveal how
the first organisms could have formed.

The 2005 Deep Impact mission to Comet Tempel 1 discovered a mixture of organic and clay particles
inside the comet. One theory for the origins of life proposes that clay particles acted as a
catalyst, converting simple organic molecules into more complex structures. The 2004 Stardust
Mission to Comet Wild 2 found a range of complex hydrocarbon molecules - potential building blocks
for life.

The Cardiff team suggests that radioactive elements can keep water in liquid form in comet
interiors for millions of years, making them potentially ideal incubators for early life.
They
also point out that the billions of comets in our solar system and across the galaxy contain far
more clay than the early Earth did. The researchers calculate the odds of life starting on Earth
rather than inside a comet at one trillion trillion (10 to the power of 24) to one against.

Professor Wickramasinghe said: The findings of the comet missions, which surprised many,
strengthen the argument for panspermia. We now have a mechanism for how it could have happened.
All
the necessary elements - clay, organic molecules and water - are there. The longer time scale and
the greater mass of comets make it overwhelmingly more likely that life began in space than on
earth.

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